Fear The Walking Dead, Survival Rule: Stranger Danger

Fear the Walking Dead – Gone

Just because someone seems friendly doesn’t mean they are.

Meeting people in a zombie apocalypse is a coin toss, where either they’re openly hostile or they aren’t? Just because someone isn’t openly hostile doesn’t mean they’re not secretly hostile.

When we met Ava in the Fear The Walking Dead season seven finale, she seemed pretty normal. Yeah, she was suspicious, but that’s not unusual (It’s also good thinking). Once she got properly introduced to Morgan and heard his story, she was perfectly friendly, even when he brought along Madison.

Of course, as we’d learn later, this was because she had a bone to pick with Morgan’s new friend and was intent on settling her affairs with Madison with a shotgun. Yeah, she was still cool with Morgan when she realized he wasn’t involved with P.A.D.R.E., but the fact remains that any friendliness she showed to Madison was a facade.

You see, people with hostile intent aren’t stupid: They know that it’s far easier to be hostile if their intended targets don’t suspect them. If someone sees a squad of armed, angry people patrolling around in a zombie apocalypse, they’re probably going to avoid them, but a group that seems friendly and unarmed? Far less intimidating.

Think back to when you were a kid. Do you remember how your parents, teachers, or local police would warn you about accepting invitations or gifts from strangers? This is because they knew that the people who meant the most harm often presented themselves as the opposite.